News You Can Use

Every year about this time, the popular press comes out with predictions for the new year. We all know that no one has a crystal ball but we read them anyway. Happily, Google never forgets. Here are some of the predictions made for 2016.

Trump falls out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination – Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio were the favorites to win.

The S&P 500 will close between 2,000 and 2,200. As of December 20, 2016 we stand at 2,266 10% higher than the low end predictions of Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan, and Credit Suisse, but not far short of the 2,300 called for by Oppenheimer.

Interest rates were expected to rise by nearly 1% as the Federal reserve was predicted to increase rates 3 to 4 times during the year. Actual result – one rate increase for the 2016 calendar year, though former Morgan Stanley analyst Byron Wein nailed this one.

So, read the predictions for 2017 with a healthy dose of skepticism, it’s just for fun.​

Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch expect the S&P 500 to end 2017 at 2,300, on the other end of the spectrum Citi and Blackrock see the S&P 500 at 2,400.